Improved railway-spike



' ltnitd tets @sind Geit-iw.

o. L. HEYWooD, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 94,601, dated September 7, 1869.-

The, Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it.

The invention relates, particularly, to the construction of that class ot' screw-spikes having heads formed upon them for turning the screws into and ont oi' railway-sleepers, or other beams or timbers.

Such a screw or spike, as lheretofore made, has had a head formed upon it, as shown at :t and y in the drawings, which respectively represent side and edge views ot' the head andthe top of the shank of a screwspike for securing railway-rails to sleepers. They head has a width corresponding to the diameter of the screwshank, and a length in excess of such diameter, suoli as to make a lip on each side of the shank, one of these lips projecting over the dange of the rail, and holding the rail in position, while by turning the spike, so that the head is parallel with the flange, the rail can be applied or removed.

The objection to such construction is this: When the rail is to be fastened down, the spike is screwed into the s'leeper with a suitable wrench, lVhen one lip on the head comes down near to the rail, if it does nottouch the rail-flange, or bear down sufliciently hard thereupon, the spike must be turned a half revolution to bring the opposite lip over the iiange, the screwthread of course penetrating deeper into the sleeper by this semi-rotation. But when the. opposite lip is thus brought to the rail, it will probably have sunk too deep to permit it to slip over the i'aihtla1ige,a11d as the rail-metal will not yield or break away, as with wood, the spike has to be turned back, bringing the other lip over the rail-ilange, at Such a distance from the top surface thereof as fails to bringthe lip down tightly enough upon the rail to hold it securely.

Now, the prime object of niy invention is to remedy this detect, and I accomplish this by making the wrench-applying head with a lip extending all around the shank, except on one side, (which side is left flush with the side ofthe shank,) and my invention consists in making a wood screw, (having a wrench-applying head,) with a surface on one side of the head, llush with the side ofthe screw-shank, and a continuous lip or flange extending from one end of such iinsh face, around the shank, to the opposite en'd thereof, or so as to have a flush face on one side ot' the. head, and a continuous lip on the other three sides thereof', and in forming this lip with a downward inclination up'on its under surface, and with a gradually-increasing width of bearing-surface from one to the opposite end thereof'.

rIhe drawing represents, at Ali,'and C, a screw, elnbodying'my invention, A and B showing the screw in elevation, and C, a plan oi' the. same.

a denotes the shank.

I), the screw-thread.

c, the head.

The head is formed with two parallel sides,1l c, and, preferably, of a width about equal to the diameter ot' the shank a, and of a length exceeding the same, in order to obtain a iirm hohl upon the screw with a screw-wrench, and one side, (l, is flush, or'nearly flush,

with one side of' the bolt, to enable the spike to be entered into the sleeper, close to theflange of the rail, to be secured thereto, and to permit the rail to be removed or placed upon the sleepers without withdrawing the spike, by simply turning the screw, so as to bring the ilush side (l inward, or parallel to the rail.-

rlhe projection ofthe head, at the two endsthereoi', forms a bearing-lip or shoulder, f or g, under each end of the hea-d; and to unite these lips, or to form-a continuous lip or bearing-surface from one end of' the head to the opposite end thereof, I extend a flange or lip, h, laterally from the head, orin continuation with and joining the lips fg, thereby not only scouring in the screw the provision for applying and removing itwith a wrench, and the provision for slipping the rail into and from position, but also making a bcaiing-surl face, without a break, from end to end ot' the head, so that when the spike is screwed down to the sleeper, and the lip j' fails to bear upon its liange, there shall be left the whole length ot'lipfh g, any part of which may come down upon the rail and hohl it.

To insure the bite of some part oi' the lip upon the rail-Harige, I incline the under suriiufe of the lip, as seen at A, so that if, when turning the spike, thelip g just escapes by the rail-flange, the lip f is so much higher, that it cannot fail to slip over the flange when it is next ln'onghtagainst it, while in the regular progress ot' the scre\\'-thre:ul during thet'ol lowing turn otl the lip f y l1. over the Harige, the lip must bite upon and secure it to the sleeper.

' I also increase thc length of the bearing-surface oi' the lip, as seen iu the drawings, so that when the lip begins to bear upon the rail-flange, the further rotation of the screw brings an increasing holding-siui'ace upon the rail-harige, and thus'nmro securely holds the rail to the sleeper.

I will be obvious, that a screw-spike thus made may vbe -used'tor other purposes, though lf design it particularly for usc as a railway-spike.

I claim- A screw-spike, having' a lip or fiange cut away on one side, and having aninolined under or bearing-surface, when such lip or ilango` gradually increases in width, substantially as shown aml`iiesc1'ibed.

Also, a screw-spike, having all thc features specified in the preceding claim, and having, also, a wrench-applying head, substantially as shown and described.

\ C. L. HEYWOOI).

Witnesses:

FRANCIS GoULD, L. H. LATIMER.' 

